Hello, I am new to the forum. I missed the event on Saturday and so our search continues. We are looking for a dwarf pink lady tree to live in our nice open front yard. We have found a semi-dwarf but that would be too tall for our needs. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Harth

Mon Mar 07, 2005 12:29 pm

Steven

Site Admin

Joined: Tue Apr 27, 2004 1:58 pmPosts: 228Location: Oregon

Welcome to the forums Heath. Sorry you could not make it to the scion exchange.

It looks like the arboretum has a Pink Lady tree so you might be able to bud graft later this summer off of it. HOS has a class in August every year at the arboretum on budding.

I'm wondering if anyone here on the Forum has any experience with growing the Pink Lady in Oregon's Willamette Valley, or other similar coolish area with a Mediterranean summer? My mom & I really like the apple, but the only person I've talked to locally (one of the OSU horticulturists) who'd grown one locally here in Corvallis told me that his never really ripened, he felt that our growing season just wasn't long enough for it here - our climate just isn't like Western Australia where it was bred. And what I can find seems to suggest the same thing, though that doesn't stop a few nurseries around here from selling them. So far, I'd like to try growing one, but am unwilling to risk a whole tree being one that will only occasionally ripen fully! I'm not really planning on starting a whole tree, but haven't totally given up on the idea yet either - maybe will try grafting a limb if it sounds somewhat promising. I'm going past the HOS Arboretum tomorrow, have to see how the Pink Lady there is doing; and check back on it this Fall!
Thanks -
Dave
lotus026

I keep two seedling-rootstock Pink Lady apples espaliered 6' tall by summer pruning. I did the first pruning of the season yesterday and it took me 5 minutes to do both trees. They're going on their 5th year now and are bearing.

I've had bad experiences with any rootstocks below semi-dwarf, and am now a fan of more vigorous rootstocks that I control the size with summer pruning.

Pink Lady may indeed never ripen properly in your climate, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't grow it. Being in a warm part of Southern California, I grow all kinds of apples that aren't supposed to grow here. However Pink Lady does excel in hot climates, and is one of the few that achieve excellent quality in the low desert heat of Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Palm Springs.

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